Attempting Mead (Recipe advice please?)

[Proxxy3813]

I plan on making a fresh batch of mead going for a vanilla cinnamon flavor, and was wanting a bit of feedback on my ingredients and process.

Yeast: Lalvin K1-V1116
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Boiling Time (Minutes): None

Ingredients
1 packet Lalvin K1-V1116
18lbs wildflower honey
5 Vanilla beans
3 Sticks cinnamon
3/4 ounce med toast French oak cubes
1tbs yeast nutrient
1tbs yeast energizer
~ 5 gallons of water

Primary
> Heat 1.5 gallons of water until warm and slowly add in honey until fully dissolved.
> Crush and add 2 cinnamon sticks
> Chop 2 vanilla beans and add to mixture
> Add energizer and nutrient.
> Remove 1/2 coffee cup full of mixture and add yeast at activation temperature.
> Fill carboy with mixture and add water to top off, then add activated yeast.
> Plug and airlock
> Re-rack and strain after fermentation stops

Secondary
> Crush 1 cinnamon stick add to secondary
> Chop 3 vanilla beans add to secondary
> Add 3/4oz oak cubes
> Sit for ~40 days tasting every 10 days until flavor is right
> Re-rack to let it settle, then bottle

Hoping to get a sweet mead with a strong vanilla flavor and light cinnamon hint. The oak cubes are added to give a bit of extra flavor, but I dunno first attempt at this..

All advice is greatly appreciated

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I'd use all the vanilla in secondary. It is a very delicate spice that will get blown off in a primary ferment.

 

[Matrix4b]

I would also use the beans in the secondary and since you do want a strong vanilla flavor, 5 beans is not enough. Use 8-10. It is also best to buy your beans in bulk online. Look for Grade B vanilla beans, that's what they use for extract. The only difference between grade A and Grade B is how pretty the bean is. It is also best to split and scrape the bean into the carboy.

For the cinnamon- I would also put it all in the secondary. No real need to crush it. If you do then put it in a hops bag for ease of removal, also recomended for the beans.

For the Oak: Wait till it is nearly clear and then add the oak: Again in a hops bag works best. I would leave the oak in about 4-6 weeks.

You also need to throw out your times. Mead is done when it is done. Use a Hydrometer and take readings every week, when you get 3 readings in a row the same, rack off the secondary.

Hope that this helps.

Matrix

 

[Arpolis]

Since the consensus is to use your spices in the secondary mainly (which I agree with) I would suggest upping the nutrients a bit and making sure to add it in steps. Just up the nutrients to 5 tsp and the 1 tbs energizer is fine. Add about 3/4 of all the nutrient/energizer at yeast pitch and every 24 hours add in 1/4 of the total for a couple days.